An 81-year-old widow said her tax refund was sent to the wrong bank account. Jackson Hewitt immediately resolved the issue after KENS 5 reached out.
SAN ANTONIO — Dora Lopez lost her husband, Roberto, last year. The 81-year-old widow was now dealing with expenses she didn’t see coming and needed every dollar she could get.
“I’ve called City Public Service for help with my electricity,” Lopez said.
After filing her taxes with Jackson Hewitt in February, Lopez found out she would be getting a large tax refund this year.
Lopez said the refund was initially a big relief. Then, two months later, the tax return was still nowhere to be found and her bills continued to grow.
Lopez finally went back to the Jackson Hewitt location to ask about the refund. She said a representative then told what bank, and bank account, the money had been sent to.
Lopez said she had never seen that account number in her life, and she didn’t have an account at that bank. Her money was now out of reach.
“It’s a big amount, and it’s somewhere else,” Lopez said.
Lopez said she called Jackson Hewitt multiple times for nearly a month but could not get a clear answer on when the issue would be fixed.
“I don’t know where I stand,” Lopez said. “I keep calling her and leaving her messages.”
Finally, she contacted KENS 5.
KENS 5 called and emailed Jackson Hewitt’s corporate office multiple times and the company started working on the issue the very next day. Jackson Hewitt then told KENS 5 via email, “Upon learning of our client’s situation, we are actively working with our client to resolve this issue and ensure she has full access to her tax refund.”
That first statement was sent on a Friday. By the end of the following Monday, Jackson Hewitt had transferred the amount of the refund to Lopez’s bank and she was now able to pay her bills.
“You don’t know what a relief,” Lopez said. “To owe people is not a good thing.”
Jackson Hewitt later sent KENS 5 another statement saying, in part: “Our client care team was able to connect and work with Ms. Lopez today to resolve the issue with her refund. She was very pleasant to work with and will be receiving her refund by the end of the business day.”
Lopez said she is thankful Jackson Hewitt’s corporate office acted so quickly to fix the issue. She’s also glad she called KENS 5.
“It took this much to get them to answer to me,” Lopez said. “It took you to pursue it. And I’m thankful for that.”
Jackson Hewitt told KENS 5 a team looked into the issue, but the company did not say exactly how the bank account error happened.
If you have a problem like this, we want to help you fix it! In our series, Call KENS, we do our best to solve problems for our viewers. The number to call is 210-470-KENS, or fill out the form on this page.